Chapter 973: Encrypted Information
The area near the Bird Tower was still under the effect of Zhu Feiyun's prop, so when the body bags were thrown out, they didn't fall toward the ground but instead flew upward into the sky.
However, their speed was not fast.
The same applied to the players who had come near the Bird Tower. Without Zhu Feiyun's special attention, the gravitational chaos was not yet strong enough to completely overturn things. In other words, if he didn't target them specifically, players entering the range would find it difficult to fall head over heels into the air like Xu Huo had outside the W19 Experimental Building. Even in a state of weightlessness, the sky's gravitational pull wasn't that strong.
Therefore, when the body bags flew up, the five players nearby instinctively followed the gravitational pull and rose into the air to chase after them.
Although the players outside didn't believe Xu Huo would throw out Gao Zhen's corpse so quickly, they still broke out in a cold sweat. Only when the body bags opened to reveal the corpse of a Xenomorph did they relax.
Shangguan Xi took out a loudspeaker prop and tossed it to Xu Huo. Xu Huo caught it smoothly and spoke to the outside: "I've already warned you not to approach the Bird Tower. You knowingly violated my warning—don't you want your mayor's corpse anymore?"
The Government Hall had already prepared equipment and was about to initiate a public dialogue, but they heard the person inside the Bird Tower continue: "Even if you don't care about Mayor Gao's corpse, don't you want to know how to save the current W37 Base City? Look at the numbers on the big screen!"
"He's stalling for time!" a government hall staff member said. "Does he have another purpose, or can't he leave?"
Being caught by the Enforcement Team, these people must have had no intention of leaving from the start. Naturally, the first suspicion was that they were players sent by other base cities. But the shift in Xu Huo's attitude made people wonder if they truly held the upper hand as they appeared to.
"They spread the virus and killed the mayor—what else do they want?" the lightning-patterned man said angrily. "Even if they have an antidote, would they hand it over?"
"Xiaoyan, they're all Instance players." The ponytailed man reminded Gao Xiaoyan.
Gao Xiaoyan's face was grim. Of course, she had also considered the possibility that Xu Huo and his group couldn't leave. But on the way to the Government Hall, she had tested them. The others were insignificant, but Xu Huo didn't seem like someone who couldn't clear the Instance. Even if he couldn't, he certainly wouldn't be trapped so easily.
He had taken Luo Changren away—there must be an ulterior motive.
And without the confidence to take him down in one fell swoop, she dared not push him to the brink. He had likely already guessed the cause and effect of the original sample. Making a scene in front of so many people would only trouble the Government Hall.
At this moment, Gao Xiaoyan somewhat regretted not following Gao Zhen's instructions to kill Xu Huo and his group immediately after her death.
"Jamming Device..." an Enforcement Team member ran over with an ugly expression, lowering his voice, "It suddenly broke before even entering the hundred-meter range of the Bird Tower. It'll take at least half an hour to reassemble!"
"No need!" Gao Xiaoyan said to Lou Jia, "Fetch an A-grade prop."
Lou Jia nodded. "I'll go with you."
"Let Ren Man come along too." Gao Xiaoyan's face was covered in frost. "I'd like to hear his solution."
"Miss Gao, you really don't need to put yourself in danger," a high-ranking official from the Government Hall said. "Just let Lou Jia and the others retrieve Mayor Gao's remains..."
Before the man could finish, Xu Huo's voice rang out again: "There are only a few minutes left until half an hour. Miss Gao, please personally deliver the prop inside."
Gao Xiaoyan pressed the device button and raised her voice: "I want to bring people in with me."
"No problem." Xu Huo agreed readily, without even making demands about her companions. "Come over in five minutes."
This actually relieved the Government Hall high-ranking officials. An A-grade player was enough to ensure Gao Xiaoyan's safety. Of course, it would be better not to negotiate, but Xu Huo's words carried hidden meaning. If they stubbornly prevented Gao Xiaoyan from going, it would seem like a betrayal of the base city. The people nearby weren't deaf—even if Xu Huo was lying, as long as the Government Hall made no effort, in the eyes of the infected, it would be equivalent to betrayal. The Government Hall had betrayed the ordinary residents of W37, making them no different from the governments of other base cities!
Inside the tower.
"What did you call them over for?" Luo Changren had already regained his freedom. "Do you have a real antidote... Even if you do, Gao Xiaoyan might not give you the password. This whole matter was a conspiracy by the base government to openly reduce the population. How could they stop halfway?"
"With your intelligence, how could you possibly understand Brother Xu's thoughts?" Shangguan Xi retorted, then spoke for the others present: "Brother Xu, what exactly is going on? Does the truth behind the SE virus incident have anything to do with us clearing the Instance?"
"The name of this Instance is 'Encrypted Information.' The living sample likely has another meaning. To get a high rating, we at least need to figure out the relevant information. Now it's clear—the Xenomorph used as a research sample for the antidote vaccine was actually the carrier of the original SE virus. It was sent to W37 to reduce the population. The planner and instigator was former Mayor Gao Zhen. That old lady on the ground."
"No, I don't get it," Zhu Feiyun said in confusion. "We came from W19 together. How do you know so much?"
Xu Huo briefly explained the strange behavior of Gao Xiaoyan during the journey and at the training base, as well as the discrepancies between the Xenomorph's death and the base city's grain planting area and population.
"Just based on that?" Zhu Feiyun was still bewildered. "But what does that have to do with what we're doing now?"
"It's very relevant, because the side quest I triggered is 'Forty-Eight Hour Countdown,'" Xu Huo glanced at Luo Changren. "Mr. Luo told me it takes forty-eight hours for the original virus to spread throughout the city."
By now, Luo Changren's skin was thick enough to be impervious to blades. He showed no shame or guilt at being exposed for lying. "Gao Zhen was prepared in advance. Not necessarily that many people would die."
"Forty-Eight Hour Countdown—does it mean we have to stop the virus from spreading within these forty-eight hours, or save people?" Kuang Wenjun wondered. "If we want to save people, we don't have a vaccine."
Earlier, when Xu Huo was tricking Luo Changren, they had overheard some of it. Though they didn't fully understand all the twists and turns, they had confirmed one thing: Luo Changren, aside from bringing back a self-rescue potion for treating aftereffects, had nothing else.
Shangguan Xi walked over and grabbed Luo Changren. "You're not lying again, are you!"
Luo Changren pressed his hand down and looked at Xu Huo. "Xu Gou knows very well whether I'm telling the truth or not."
Xu Huo turned back and nodded slightly. "Since the SE virus didn't originate from Dr. Zhang, and it has no hereditary traits after spreading, there should be no vaccine, and naturally no antidote."
The process of the SE virus incident was actually not that complicated. It was just that Luo Changren had selectively withheld information in both of his explanations to Xu Huo.
(Chapter End)